New Blog Idea - House Tours!

I was actually about to post about my bathroom that is FINALLY finished when I stumbled across a random person's blog. Their little blog group all did "house tours" where they took a few pics of each room in their house. I thought this was a great idea! We can share our decorating ideas and see what everyone has been up to lately. It also will document what our homes look like right now. I always look at the backgrounds in old pictures. I wish now that I had taken more pictures of my old house before we moved. No one really stops to take pictures of their houses so this would make everyone do it! What do you think? I will snap some pictures tomorrow and post tomorrow night! Below are a few pictures of our new bathroom! 8 weeks later minus the 80's tile and boring white walls it is finally finished! Yay!! It's kinda hard to see the colors but the walls are chocolate brown and the accents are a light blue.

Quality Time

We have had a million things going on each weekend for weeks. This weekend could have easily been the same but instead I just stayed home. We will have a bunch of stuff over the next few weeks and in fact we will not have a "free" day for future weekends until August. I think that is just crazy. I decided to just stay home with the boys for Saturday night and all day today and it was so nice. Scott took Nolan to rent a movie at Blockbuster (something that we never do and he always wants to do. Nolan picked out a Scooby Doo movie and made some banana chocolate chip cookie bars. It was a really nice night! Today I made a big breakfast for the boys and we packed up and went to the Randol Mill play pool. Nolan helped me pack lunch -we made chicken salad for sandwiches, goldfish, raisins and lots of water! The boys loved it out there. Nolan is really getting to be a good swimmer. Yesterday was his first day back in the pool this summer and he was a little unsure of swimming. They really do remember from the previous summer because he was all over the place and swimming under water today. Hudson also had a great time because he was able to stand up and run and play in the water since it was so shallow. Yesterday he did not want to be held in the water the whole time in deep water so it was not a good time! We stayed about three hours and then came house for a good long nap. I marinated steaks, made a fresh cucumber salad and roasted corn for dinner. It was so yummy! We played in the water hose and had a great evening!! I love my boys and I try to soak up every second I can get with them. Glad we got to have a nice weekend together!

Father's Day

Scott had a good father's day. We made him breakfast, went to see Up in 3-D (thanks Nana for watching Hud during naptime) and spent the evening with his parents. Nolan picked him out sunglasses, a t-shirt and made him a card. It was sweet. Scott is an amazing father and a wonderful husband.

Michael Jackson

It's weird night tonight...Michael Jackson died today at the age of 50. It really saddens me although I'm not sure why. I know he was weird and had a lot of issues but I just never knew how much of it was real or blown out of proportion by the press. I am sad not because of who he is today but because of the loss of a childhood icon for me. We loved him back then. When I hear his songs I am flooded with good memories. Those songs are truly part of the soundtrack of my childhood. I think of watching the Thriller video for the first time down at Zoe's house and being scared for days. I remember begging for a Michael Jackson folder when I started first grade. (it had the picture of him with the tiger on it) We listened to the BAD album all night long at my 3rd grade slumber party. Kimmie and I made many mixed tapes with MJ songs on them to listen to in the backyard playhouse. I remember watching the world premiere of the Black or White video with Becca and Michelle and us thinking he was so cool. I am sure there are many more if I really sat and thought about it. Nolan really likes Beat It and asked me to put it on his MP3 player a few months ago. When I told him that he passed away - Nolan said it best when he said "Well we will have his songs forever." It's just sad to lose an icon.

Just saying hi...

Hudson was so funny at the balloon festival on Saturday. He loved the petting zoo. Every new animal that he noticed, he would tell it hi and wave at it. Seriously - every single animal. I thought it was cute at the time, but thought it was really funny when I got home and looked though all the pictures and realized that he was waving in most of them. Too cute - I love my sweet two year old!

Best News Ever!!!

I have very exciting new to share... Becca and Conner are gonna have a baby! I wanted to write about it sooner but they were waiting until Father's day to share the news with all of the family so I had to wait! The baby is due January 20th. Can't believe that Aunt B is going to be a mommy. It is just SO exciting to watch their little family grow and to know that a new baby is on the way. They are super excited and already in the full swing of thinking of names, looking at baby bedding and dreaming about this sweet little angel! I think it's a girl and will have Becca's curls and Conner's eyes. I just can not wait! You know me; the first night that I went to the grocery store after hearing the news, I bought a little something for the baby. I just can't help myself! It is going to be a long 7 months! I thought I would post a few pictures of Shams and Kitty. (Their sweet puppies who will no longer be the babies of the family!) Now I just need help thinking of a "cool" aunt name...any ideas???

Balloon Festival in Waxahachie

Saturday we (and Nana) met up with Geoff, Jenny and Emlyn to go eat at Catfish Plantation and go to a hot air balloon festival. I wasn't expecting much since I knew it would be a little one but it was a lot of fun! I have never actually been close to a hot air balloon before so it was pretty neat to see them. We went in the evening when they had the "Balloon Glow" which is when they stay grounded but all burn at the same time and glow. It was neat even though there weren't that many balloons. The kids thought it was pretty impressive. They had bounce houses, carnival food and a petting zoo. I will post more pics from the night tomorrow!

Friday Night Softball

The boys won 17 to 5 on Friday night! We had a good time and the kids had an even better time just playing. I love that they are all buddies. They even stick together on the playground. They are all so cute! If you look in the background of the last picture you can see Ellen and Nicole sitting at the table - that's our post. We hang out armed with sunblock, bug spray, kisses for boo-boos and sippy cups. Lots of fun being single mom's while the guys are on the field! :)

Random Grimace Spotting at McDonald's

Grimace (is that the correct spelling?) was on the side of of the road waving at cars and we had to stop and get a pic. Hudson went right up to him and jumped in his arms (like he just sees giant purple monsters all the time. He wouldn't even look at me for a picture because he was too busy telling him all about the playground. Hilarious!

Mixed Fruit Crisp

I don't know about your household but we have been going through a ton of summer fruit. Everything at the store looks so yummy I can't help but buy it all. At the end of the week there is usually a couple pieces of each type that we need to eat before it goes bad. Last Sunday I decided to mix up what I had left and make a dessert to go with the country style (boneless) ribs I had cooking. I just halved the recipe and put it in a pie pan. I have made the recipe twice now and it is super yummy. The first time I didn't peel the apples and the second time I did and it came out great both times.

Ingredients:
3 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and
sliced
4 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup cherries (pitted and sliced)
1/4 cup water 1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). .
2. Combine apples, peaches, blueberries, cherries and water in a 9x9 baking dish.
3. In medium bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Cut in butter with two knives or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over fruit.
4. Bake in preheated oven 35 to 45 minutes, until topping starts to brown. Serve warm.